Amsterdam

This past weekend, Melanie, Teresa, and I traveled to Amsterdam. I was really unsure what to expect but these are the main observations I found:

1. Amsterdam is one of the cleanest European cities I've seen.
2. The Anne Frank house is a little overrated. Don't get me wrong, it was really cool to be standing in a place where such a tragically, famous story took place, but the rooms were bare with just pictures and writings on the walls. There was no furniture or appliances, so it was hard to really grasp a sense of reality when walking around the house.

Best observations in the Anne Frank house:
-Actual pencil marks on the wall where the Anne Frank and her sister recorded their height.
-The bookcase that hid their secret living corridors.
-Actual wallpaper where Anne Frank decorated her wall to make it more homey
-Seeing the actual Anne Frank diary

3. The Van Gogh museum is really amazing. I am not a big art buff, but a lot of his work is very capturing and I am really glad I took the time to go.
4. Yes, marijuana is legal and no, not everyone is walking around blazed out of their minds. There are coffeeshops on about every corner but they are mainly filled with tourists.
5. Locals are very nice. Comparing everywhere I've traveled this summer, the Irish and people in the Netherlands were very outgoing and willing to help with any questions we had about directions.

Below are some pictures from my trip! 



Anne Frank House



Cool Mosaic entrance at a coffeeshop



Pancake Corner!!! Sooo good



Inside the Pancake House. Mel and I natrually got the unhealthiest item on the menu: pancakes covered in chocolate with vanilla ice cream and whipcream!

 Overall, Amsterdam was one of my favorite cities. The people, culture, food, and ambiance of the city was unforgettable and I hope I can come back again one day.

Paris, Ville Des Lumières

Melanie and I traveled to Paris last weekend. I had been there once before a few years back and though it's not my favorite European city, the city lights never get old.

Notre Dame

Mel and I went on a champagnes tasting cruise on the Seine River. We tried 3 different champagnes. Everything was going well until our boat crashed into another boat head on. No one was hurt, but it was fairly entertaining watching the police and two boat captains yell at each other in French.

Our Sommelier!

We had fondue for lunch!

Yeah, we're still 10 years old it's fine

We walked towards this random carnival that was going on near the Louvre. Naturally, we had to ride the log flume.

The Louvre

Overall, the trip was amazing. The weather was not the best but we got a lot done in just a few days. Sorry it has been a while since my last update, I have been super busy with work and getting done with my 3 essays and presentation. Amsterdam update soon to come!!

For the Luck of the Irish



I just got back from Dublin yesterday with two of my roomates.  Although I didn't sleep for practically 42 hours over the weekend, the time was well spent galavanting around the city and enjoying music from one of my favorite musicians, Paolo Nutini. If you don't know him, check out his Sunny Side Up album on Itunes. Absolutley amazing.

Mom and Dad, you may be wondering why I was up for so long. Here was my schedule for the weekend:

Saturday: Had to leave at 4 AM for our plane. I was busy packing and planning travel options, so I barely got any sleep.

8:00 AM: Melanie, Teresa, and I arrived in Dublin airport.

10:00 AM: Melanie and I arrived at the city center and ate breakfast. Teresa had family in Dublin, so she left for a train to Belfast.



11:00AM: Melanie and I bar hopped and drank Guniess and Jameson while watching Rugby. We made friends with the bar owners. (If you can imagine how a bar owner at an Irish Pub would be, your assumption is probably correct). By the end, Mel and I totally understood the necessity of Irish drinking songs.

12:00PM: Bought souveneirs and sightsaw throughout Dublin.

Center of Dublin



2:00PM: Mel and I got the bus, along with fellow hippies and gypsies, to get to the Oxegen Music Festival.



Mel and I

3:00PM: We arrived and were immediatley overwhelmed by the ambiance. Camping grounds, carnival rides, huge tents, beautiful scenery, and best of all, the array of different types of people.

Carnival

3:10PM: We arrived at the concert grounds and explored the different stages and figured out what bands we wanted to see.

(Note: I was absolutley determined, beyond all means, to get front row to Paolo. About a fourth of the 50,000 probably wanted the same thing, so Mel and I planned accordingly.)

4:00PM: Ate Dinner and listened to Two Door Cinema Club and saw one song from The Pretty Reckless. (She was really terribly for all you Gossip Girl lovers out there.)



The Pretty Reckless was pretty reckless. Gross

 5:00PM: Mel and I decided to head over to the Vodafone stage, where Paolo was playing at 9:20PM.

(Once we got there, we saw Bruno Mars and Imelda May and slowly moved our way vertically towards the front row. After Imelda's set, we were about 4 rows of people back from the front center. The Arctic Monkeys and Foo Fighters were luckily playing during the same time at a different stage as Paolo, so a few people filed out, leaving Melanie and I a straight shot to the front!!)



Front Row!

People behind us

Imelda May



Bruno Mars

9:20PM Paolo started playing and Mel and I started basically crying.


Paolo!!

Full Band Shot

11:05PM: DeadMau5 came on.

He had amazing light effects

2:00AM: Got on the bus to the airport (Me and Mel were exhausted, to say the least.)

4:00AM Arrived at the airport.

7:50AM: Our flight left on time to get back to Brussels and I slept the whole way back.

Overall, the trip was amazing but equally exhausting. This was my first music festival, so it was great to not only see one of my favorite bands that rarely visits the States, but also go to a foreign country that has a completley different passion for music that I have seen before. I am so thankful to be able to have all these experiences this summer!!

Next weekend I will be going to Paris so lookout for updates about that!!

London's Calling

This past weekend I finally returned to London, one of  favorite cities in the world. I was last there the summer after my senior year and fell in love with the culture and atmosphere. My roomates and I took an overnight bus on Thursday, which took about 6 and a half hours arriving at 6:30 AM. We then took a taxi and  checked in to our hostel (which was my first time staying in one) called The Generator. To my surprise, it reminded me a lot of living in the dorms my freshman year of college. The community bathrooms, cafeteria, and events posted on corkboards all around the floors was like a blast from the past. We had a four person bedroom which were nothing special but provided the necessitites.

That Friday, Jordan's boyfriend, Kempy, who is originally from around the London area, took us around to the more local spots in London. We went to The Camden Market for the day which I can best describe as being a mix between gypsies, food, music, and thrift shops. It was so much fun and probably one of my favorite days. Here are pics below!



Fish Pedicures: So this sounds a little gross but basically it's a pedicure but instead of getting your foot pumiced, you put your feet in a tub of water with these little fish that eat off dead skin so you when your done, your feet are really soft and smooth. I have never heard of this concept before but apparantly it is really popular with Europeans. (No I didn't do this becuase we didn't have a lot of time but I was extremely tempted to!)



Picture of Fish Tub



On Saturday, Melanie, Teresa, and I became the ultimate tourists and bought tickets for the double decker bus tour that took you to all the major landmarks throughout the London area. I had already seen most of the sights from the last time I was in London, but it was honestly nice to give my feet a break for standing up for what seemed like 3 days. Some of the places we got off were Hyde Park-where we walked around the Queen's rose garden, Buckingham palace, and Westminter Abbey.

Westminster Abbey

Signs still left outside Westminster Abbey after Kate and Williams wedding

London Eye

Buckingham Palace

Hyde Park Rose Garden

Me and Mel outside The Parliment

The two nights we were there we went to two clubs, Fabric and The Ministry of Sound, with friends we had met at our hostel bar. The atmosphere was unlike anything I had ever seen. Each club had multiple rooms with differently themed atmospheres with music going along with the different interiors. Most notably, one of the rooms had a floor that was made out of a subwoofer. Although deaf afterwords, I had fun dancing and spending time with new and old friends!

The crew before heading into Fabric!

Sign entering the subwoofer room!

This really doesn't do it justice but the atmosphere was amazing

That Sunday, we left London on the bus at 8:00 AM, went through the chunnel back to the mainland, and got to Brussels around 4:00 PM. Although we were wiped out, we had an amazing time and was definitley one of the best weekends I've had thus far in Europe!

"Wait, we have homework??"

Sorry it has been a while since I have updated. These past few weeks have been hectic with traveling and work. Last week, our Art History teacher dropped the bomb that we would have to read two 300-page books and write two essays: one 1000-word essay and another 2000-word essay. To top it off, we also have to write a 3000-word essay about 1 piece of art, all in the month we have left here. Naturally the bliss of of being away came to a halt when procrastination came creeping up my alley. Personally, I'm the kind of person who would rather write a paper over taking a test, but I think I am beginning to realize that I am just getting sick of the whole school thing. Not in the sense that I don't like learning, but more like I just want a change away from sitting in a classroom. Just from my experience working at Levi's this summer, I think I am ready for the change of really starting to invest in something other than myself. I want to really make a difference in the workplace and really invest what I have learned through my internships and the journalism school and start making somthing out of myself. Senioritis already??

On top of figuring out what I will be doing with my life in the next year, this past weekend relieved a lot of stress when my best friend Kelyn came to visit me! She has been studying abroad in Cantina, Italy for the summer and I was honored enough to have her beautiful face come visit me in Brussels the last weekend she was here. Last Saturday we decided to take a daytrip to Antwerp (fashion capital of Belgium). Naturally, this was a horrible decision. Not in the sense of that it wasn't fun, but more like it was way too much fun and extremely harsh on the finances. (Me and Kel tend to be big enablers towards eachother when it comes to cute dresses and shoes, and let me tell you, there was A LOT of cute dresses and shoes.)

Here are some pics from this past weekend!

Antwerp Train Station

Main Shopping Street

Kel and I!